MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG) Stake Increased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in MGIC Investment Co. (NYSE:MTG - Free Report) by 28.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,430 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 14,651 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in MGIC Investment were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MGIC Investment in the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,908,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in MGIC Investment by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 16,008,489 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $379,561,000 after purchasing an additional 2,928,595 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in MGIC Investment by 292.0% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,072,629 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $49,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543,908 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of MGIC Investment by 259.4% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,105,399 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $26,209,000 after acquiring an additional 797,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MGIC Investment by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,766,195 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $113,006,000 after acquiring an additional 677,227 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MTG shares. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of MGIC Investment from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of MGIC Investment from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MGIC Investment from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.63.

MGIC Investment Stock Performance

MTG stock traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.04. 521,862 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,795,226. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $24.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.56. MGIC Investment Co. has a 1-year low of $20.11 and a 1-year high of $26.92.

MGIC Investment (NYSE:MTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. MGIC Investment had a net margin of 63.18% and a return on equity of 14.86%. The firm had revenue of $306.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that MGIC Investment Co. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MGIC Investment announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to repurchase up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

MGIC Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. MGIC Investment's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.28%.

About MGIC Investment

MGIC Investment Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance, other mortgage credit risk management solutions, and ancillary services to lenders and government sponsored entities in the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The company offers primary mortgage insurance that provides mortgage default protection on individual loans, as well as covers unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest, and various expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure.